Souping up the hand-held vhf radio.
 

Being on bed rest for a month has left me with a little too much time on my
hands. ;^) One of the ways I pass the day is to listen to the chatter
on the vhf channels using my 5 watt hand-held. Unfortunately, it just
doesn't seem to have that much of a range. While the Coast Guard comes in
loud and clear, I seldom hear the response of who it is they are talking to.
Other than the Coast Guard about all I can pick up is the drunks out at the
sand bar. I don't really need to hear about what a good time they're
having, it's bad enough that I have to sit hear watching them out the
window.

So I was wondering if it is possible to buy an external antenna that I could
mount to the roof of my house and thereby extend the range? Would it be
just that simple or are there going to be issues of amplification, impedance
matching, licensing, etc?


suds

Souping up the hand-held vhf radio.
 

"suds" wrote in
:

Being on bed rest for a month has left me with a little too much time
on my hands. ;^) One of the ways I pass the day is to listen to
the chatter on the vhf channels using my 5 watt hand-held.
Unfortunately, it just doesn't seem to have that much of a range.
While the Coast Guard comes in loud and clear, I seldom hear the
response of who it is they are talking to. Other than the Coast Guard
about all I can pick up is the drunks out at the sand bar. I don't
really need to hear about what a good time they're having, it's bad
enough that I have to sit hear watching them out the window.

So I was wondering if it is possible to buy an external antenna that I
could mount to the roof of my house and thereby extend the range?
Would it be just that simple or are there going to be issues of
amplification, impedance matching, licensing, etc?

As long as you're not transmitting with it you won't have to worry about
impedance matching. If the radio has an external antenna jack all you'll
need is the right connector, some rg-58 coax cable, and, of course an
antenna. If you're talking about the marine band you can just get a marine
antenna that one might mount on a boat and mount it up on your roof.

Souping up the hand-held vhf radio.
 

"John Fereira" wrote in message
.. .


As long as you're not transmitting with it you won't have to worry about
impedance matching. If the radio has an external antenna jack all you'll
need is the right connector, some rg-58 coax cable, and, of course an
antenna. If you're talking about the marine band you can just get a marine
antenna that one might mount on a boat and mount it up on your roof.


Well, there is a harbor just don't the street with a lot of unattended
boats... ;^)~



suds

Souping up the hand-held vhf radio.
 

On 26-Jul-2004, "suds" wrote:

Well, there is a harbor just don't the street with a lot of unattended
boats... ;^)~

Does anyone know what this says in English?

Mike

Souping up the hand-held vhf radio.
 

in article , Michael Daly at
wrote on 7/26/04 7:38 PM:


On 26-Jul-2004, "suds" wrote:

Well, there is a harbor just don't the street with a lot of unattended
boats... ;^)~

Does anyone know what this says in English?

Mike


English Translation:

Maybe I'll go to the harbor down the street and steal an antenna off of one
of the unattended boats.

Souping up the hand-held vhf radio.
 

"Dave Van" wrote in message
...
in article , Michael Daly at
wrote on 7/26/04 7:38 PM:


On 26-Jul-2004, "suds" wrote:

Well, there is a harbor just don't the street with a lot of unattended
boats... ;^)~

Does anyone know what this says in English?

Mike


English Translation:

Maybe I'll go to the harbor down the street and steal an antenna off of
one
of the unattended boats.
=====================
Did you get that magic decoder ring in a cereal box? :-)

Souping up the hand-held vhf radio.
 

Sutable antenna is available at www.kg4ena.com VHF base

"suds" wrote:
Being on bed rest for a month has left me with a little too much time
on my hands. ;^) One of the ways I pass the day is to listen to
the chatter on the vhf channels using my 5 watt hand-held.
Unfortunately, it just doesn't seem to have that much of a range.
While the Coast Guard comes in loud and clear, I seldom hear the
response of who it is they are talking to. Other than the Coast Guard
about all I can pick up is the drunks out at the sand bar. I don't
really need to hear about what a good time they're having, it's bad
enough that I have to sit hear watching them out the window.

So I was wondering if it is possible to buy an external antenna that
I could mount to the roof of my house and thereby extend the range?
Would it be just that simple or are there going to be issues of
amplification, impedance matching, licensing, etc?


suds